


Groceries

by lilydaydreams



Series: One-shots from my unfinished Buffy AU [1]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: Crack, Father Figures, Father-Daughter Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Crack, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Humor, One Shot, Post-Season/Series 06, Pre-Season/Series 07, Short One Shot, Tampons, giles is a mess, i mean biologically no but giles is buffy's dad and that's just facts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-29
Updated: 2019-12-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:48:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22010575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilydaydreams/pseuds/lilydaydreams
Summary: Giles fulfills his fatherly responsibilities as the only adult of the house in the only way he knows how: by going completely and totally overboard.
Relationships: Rupert Giles & Buffy Summers
Series: One-shots from my unfinished Buffy AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1584352
Kudos: 24





	Groceries

**Author's Note:**

> This is from a longer work on my account over at ff.net that I'm probably not going to finish, decided to republish over here as a standalone one shot. Thanks for reading! Set between seasons 6 and 7 in a slightly canon divergent Buffyverse.

Giles had never particularly liked grocery stores. They were so large, and full of people, and there were so many options for a single product. He thought it was much more sensible to have bottles of milk delivered to one's door, how it used to be done. No fuss, no stress, no trips out into the world.

He'd once idly mentioned how much he hated buying groceries, or most things, to Anya on a slow day at the Magic Box. To his surprise, she'd strongly agreed with him. "Why?" He'd asked her. For the most part, she seemed enamored with the trappings of capitalism that she'd found herself thrown into.

"It's so different, and bright, and everything is in a box. I _can_ grocery shop, of course, but I prefer to make Xander do it. Being inside one of those places just reminds me of how recently human I am." This had made perfect sense to him, although he didn't have the excuse of being a thousand year old vengeance demon.

He snapped himself back into the present and tried to block out the hordes of people and overwhelming sensory input, chastising himself for making something as small as an errand such an ordeal. After all, a household of five made for quite a few needs, and at the current moment, he was their provider.

Buffy was healing rapidly and back from the hospital. She wanted to go out on patrol and was clearly antsy about not being able to do so, but he insisted she heal completely before resuming her job as Slayer, and was covering her nightly patrols for the moment. Dawn was doing alright, considering, but she was a child, really. Xander was moved in to the Summers house temporarily and did all he could to help out, but his construction job had recently ramped up its efforts in rebuilding the Sunnydale High School.

As for Willow―she was stable, and they were all grateful for that. Yet she stayed locked in her room most of the time, presumably just sleeping or thinking, and only emerged occasionally to eat. None of them were sure if she'd been using any magic.

So everyone else was essentially incapacitated, so he, Giles, had to step up and fill his role as the only _real_ adult in the household and take care of everyone. Which was why he was now standing in the middle of the supermarket, grocery list and basket in hand, perplexed at where to find the last item on the list.

Dawn had made a list of food items they were running low on, and a few of her favorite unhealthy snacks. He'd only picked up the essentials. Xander had added "paper towels" and "toothpaste" to the list. He'd gotten all those things. At the very bottom, though, Buffy had scrawled "tampons." She'd added a little smiley face next to it.

Giles realized these were certainly a necessity and he had no qualms about buying them for her, especially since he'd discouraged her for going out to run errands herself. But the occasion had never arisen before for him to buy feminine hygiene products.

After wandering around aimlessly for quite a while, he finally asked a salesperson, who directed him to aisle 14. They were there, alright, but there were so many varieties of them, and Buffy hadn't specified. He filled up the basket with one of each box, reasoning he could make Xander return the extras later.

* * *

Buffy lounged on the couch, itching for a good fight, though she knew Giles was right about needing to heal fully before patrolling again. Giles was usually right.

Speak of the devil. He entered that very moment, five grocery bags in hand, and greeted her. "Damn, Giles, I didn't know we needed that much stuff!"

"I didn't know what to get you." He set down four of the bags and she peered inside. They were full of tampon boxes, probably enough for the next several years. She really shouldn't have trusted him to get those for her.

He looked sheepish and a bit pink. "Thank you," she told him, stifling her laughter. "This was very thoughtful of you."

Giles nodded stiffly. "Please inform me if you would like me to get you some chocolate. I have heard that it is sometimes necessary at times such as this."

To his surprise, she leaped up and hugged him, the sheer force of her strength almost knocking him over. "You're the best dad I could ever ask for."

He excused himself soon after to the kitchen, claiming there was something in his eye, but Buffy knew the truth.


End file.
